Central China's Hubei Province has provided free medical treatment to 944 AIDS patients in 2005, said the provincial government on Friday.

Li Chunming, spokesman of the government, said Hubei invested 83.7 million yuan (US$10.5 million) in AIDS/HIV prevention and control last year and has fundamentally built an anti-HIV system.

The provincial government established 524 AIDS/HIV-related consultation and testing stations and gave free tests to 220,000 people of the high-risk groups in 2005.

At the same time, 94 percent of the province's 850 AIDS orphans have been enrolled without any charge by the end of last year.

Li said the provincial government considered the AIDS/HIV prevention and control as an important part of their work.

As of the end of 2005, 2,830 people in Hubei have been confirmed HIV-positive, the provincial health department said.

(Xinhua News Agency January 14, 2006)